Gas Mask ※ A Peterick AU

21| Tomorrow

Patrick

As we entered the apartment Josh flicked on the lights and went straight to the living room, which was directly to the right as you entered. He got onto the couch, grabbing the remote and turning on the TV. I looked over to Pete, he was standing and watching Josh's movements. After a few seconds I decided to join Josh, so I made my way to the leather recliner next to the couch. Pete joined us, sitting down next to Josh as the latter finally picked something to watch; Adventure Time. "Really?" I asked, letting out a laugh. I used to watch this all the time, I even had some posters, shirts, and pop figures. It was an addiction. My parents thought it was a little dumb, but my sister loved it.

"Hell yeah, this show is so fucking good." Josh smiled back at me, making a warm feeling fill me. It was times like this that I didn't feel too bad about not seeing Andy and Joe, but I still missed them a lot. I wonder what they were doing now, but I pushed those thoughts away, I didn't need to turn into a blubbering mess in front of Pete and Josh. "My si-" as I started talking a loud knock was heard at the door, making me almost shit myself from the surprise. I looked over at Josh, his eyes were still on the TV screen. "Are you gonna get that?" I asked quietly, sitting up in my seat as another loud, firm knock was heard.

Josh just shook his head. "No, it's most likely just some kid looking for something to get high with. Our neighbours are druggies and their fucking clients always come here, high off their minds." He grumbled as another loud knock echoed around the apartment. But this time a loud voice came with it. "This is the Bright Grove police department. We know you're in there, so make this easier for all of us and just open the door." The three of us visibly froze before Pete jumped up and grabbed me. "Don't make a noise and don't fucking move." He whisper hissed as he dropped me in front of a hallway closet before pushing me inside.

He made sure to leave the door open just a bit, enough for me to see the living room and front door. My heart was beating inside of my chest at an incredibly fast pace, and I could've sworn it was about to burst out of my chest. My hands were shaking so much I had to press them against my stomach so I wouldn't hit anything inside the dark closet. Was this is? Was I about to watch Pete and/or Josh get arrested? What would I do? Where would I go? Back to the club? I could find Tyler, we could leave together. But would he want to? I don't think he would just leave Jo-

"Can I help you?" Josh's calm voice took me out of my thoughts, I hadn't even noticed he made his way to the door and opened it. "Took you a while to answer the door." The same voice from before said. It came from a man in a police uniform, he's about six feet tall with black shaved hair starting to grey, and a noticeable scar running up the side of his face. I couldn't see too well from my hiding spot but I saw another mans shoulder behind him, Josh was standing in front of him so I couldn't see any features. "Thought you were someone else." Josh shrugged casually as he leaned against the door frame.

I looked to the left to see Pete still standing in the living room, but he was out of sight from the police officers. He was staring at the ground, just focusing on what was being said between the two men. "Who?" The officer asked, his eyes going past Josh to look around the apartment. And for a moment I felt my heart stop as he looked in my direction, but he looked back to Josh once he started talking. "Why does it matter?" He asked, standing up straight. The officer looked him up and down. "Now I'm gonna ask again, why are you here." Josh asked again, letting out a sigh.

"We have video footage of your vehicle leaving town early this morning. Coincidentally two people went missing around the same time. Now, we just wanted to ask you some questions, if that's alright." The officer said, making Pete look over to me. His face was surprisingly calm, the complete opposite of what I probably looked like. Because this was it, everything was about to end. "You think I did it," Josh said with a scoff, making the officer look to the other. "Whatever, fine. Question me." Josh said, opening the door wider for the two men. Pete stood up straighter as they walked in, making them stop when seeing him.